Tag Archives: Surface tablet

A poster in the Windows Phone Central forums uploaded images of his Surface Tablet, which still works after being run over by a car

It's doubtful whether any owner of a new Microsoft Surface Tablet would perform the following test on purpose, but a poster in the Windows Phone Central forums has unwittingly discovered what happens when you run over the device with a car.

You know how sometimes, before getting in your car, you'll forget a cup of coffee on the roof of the car, only to have it whip off into the road a block or two away? Well, this unfortunate man did more or less the same thing, but with a his tablet.

Aside from some superficial dents and scratches, the tablet is still intact

Noticing some trash cans that needed to be taken in outside his house, he set the Surface Tablet on the car roof and, forgetting all about it, drove off to work. Naturally, as soon as he realized what he'd doe, he turned right around and drove back the direction he came from, to find his Surface Tablet lying in the middle of the road:

"[I] watched the last group of traffic drove by. Each car passed by with the tires on each side of the Surface until the very last car. The tire of the car ran completely over the Surface and next thing I saw was my brand new $700 tablet and touch cover flying through the air in separate directions!"

Long story short, the poor guy was delighted when he opened up the tablet and found that, not only was the screen completely intact but that, hitting the power button, everything worked as it should.

"The Surface feels completely sturdy, exactly like how I got it. Everything works in it, even the touch cover (which got a slight tear in it) works completely fine! Microsoft has made such an incredible product, I am completely speechless how this could happen!," he wrote.

The tablet has a few scratches dents and dings, but otherwise survived no worse for wear. Needless to say, the poster is pretty happy about his choice of tablets, writing: "This product is insane! I would love to see what an iPad looks like after getting run over by a car going 60 mph!"

"There is not a single scratch nor crack in the screen!" wrote the relieved tablet owner

Microsoft put the finishing touches on a massive month this week, with the global launch of Windows Phone 8 Monday, and the Build developer conference Tuesday.

The company already launched their extra-sized Surface Tablet earlier this month, as well as holding their Windows 8 event.

But what most of us were really waiting for was windows Phone 8, and now it's here. Touted by the event's speakers as "the most personal smartphone operating system you can get," Microsoft began by highlighting the growing number of apps for Windows Phone, 120,000 and counting.

However, speakers stressed that people, not apps, are the focus of the revamped OS, and called out Apple and Android for not doing enough to really change smartphones since they arrived on the scene.

As such, Microsoft is banking a lot on one of Windows Phone 8's main features, "live apps." Live apps move like live tiles and update themselves, so that your phone becomes like your fingerprint, says Microsoft.

"For example, the Facebook app updates the lock screen with your personal photos," explains WebProNews. "A number of app developers including Twitter, Zynga and Rovio are updating their apps to take advantage of live apps."

That brings us to what TechCrunch says the "future of the Windows 8 platform," hinges on – the developers.

Because the OS – nevermind the idea of live tiles – is so new, Microsoft's going to have to lure developers to it for it to really take off. At the moment, says TechCrunch, the number of new Windows 8 apps is "underwhelming," and that may explain the somewhat middling reviews Microsoft's Surface Tablet has received:

"Most of the reviewers cited the lack of apps – and not the hardware itself – as one of the reasons they didn’t enjoy the experience."

But as he took the stage to kick off the Build developer conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer already had some positive news about the new OS' reception, saying that there have already been 4 million Windows 8 upgrades in just the few days since its launch. Hopefully some of those interested parties are developers.

But as for regular users who want to get in on the new OS, Windows Phone 8 will be globally available by November across a number of devices, including the Nokia Lumia, and HTC and Samsung smartphones.

Reddit hosted an “ask me almost anything” (AMAA) session with the Microsoft Surface development team last Tuesday (Oct. 16th), the same day the Surface tablet was available for pre-order. Mashable did a great job of summarizing the Q&A and posted a few details about the tablet that were heard from the developers for the first time. Some of their comments are summarized below.

Why would someone using an iPad want to change to the Surface tablet. What makes the Surface so amazing?

The Surface team said they have a vision for Surface. On it you can get “a ton of stuff done.” It has a full Windows operating system and can run the Office suite. The “seamless transitioning” from one user state to another with the touch cover, the ability to use it all day, and a USB port that creates endless connectivity possibilities all add up to a fully functional pc in a tablet form.

With Windows RT installed, how much many GBs of free space will be left?

After the OS, OfficeRT and a few apps are installed, they claimed that more than 20GB remains. Adding an SD card would also add space for music, movies and photos (though not apps.)

No 3G/4G option for the Surface

Even without 3G/4G, the team’s position is that the tablet design is still “world-class Wi-Fi connectivity.” They looked at specific elements of 3G/4G that they needed to include. Since the Surface would probably be used most often at home, their tablet sales data showed connectivity there would be one-third Wi-Fi and one-third mobile broadband. They also considered frequent usage at hotspots as part of the decision.

Using USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0

The full size USB 2.0 port on Surface supports hundreds of millions of devices that are already being used so the network is already in place. Timing was factor, too. They chose USB 2.0 based on capability of the ARM SoCs during their development time frame.

Surface resolution that’s significantly less than new iPad’s

With the ClearType Display technology they’ve taken what they call a three-pronged approach to maximizing resolution while optimizing the device for battery life, weight, and thickness.

First, they believe Microsoft’s Cleartype 1.0 and 2.0 is the best pixel rendering technology in the industry because it smoothes text regardless of pixel count. The technology is exclusive and unique to Windows. Unofficially, the amount of light reflected off the display screen allowed by Cleartype is approximately 5.5% - 6.2%. The iPad's is a more glaring 9.9%

Third, the optically-bonded screen that has “the thinnest optical stack anywhere on the market - something which is more commonly done on phones but not on a tablet.

Surface RT pricing

The 10.6-inch Microsoft Surface Tablet will cost $499 for the 32GB model, up to $699 for the 64GB tablet. The Touch Cover keypad is an extra $119. If you want the Type Cover with real keys, add $129 to your budget.

Apple may have something to worry about. The Surface tablet has sold out of pre-orders in the U.S.